Corliss did manage to attend one
rehearsal. It might have been that he had come tired from forty miles
with the dogs, and it might have been that Torvald was obliged to put
his arm about Nora at divers times and to toy playfully with her ear;
but, one way or the other, Corliss never attended again.
Busy he certainly was, and when not away on trail he was closeted
almost continually with Jacob Welse and Colonel Trethaway. That it was
a deal of magnitude was evidenced by the fact that Welse's mining
interests involved alone mounted to several millions. Corliss was
primarily a worker and doer, and on discovering that his thorough
theoretical knowledge lacked practical experience, he felt put upon his
mettle and worked the harder. He even marvelled at the silliness of
the men who had burdened him with such responsibilities, simply because
of his pull, and he told Trethaway as much. But the colonel, while
recognizing his shortcomings, liked him for his candor, and admired him
for his effort and for the quickness with which he came to grasp things
actual.
Del Bishop, who had refused to play any hand but his own, had gone to
work for Corliss because by so doing he was enabled to play his own
hand better. He was practically unfettered, while the opportunities to
further himself were greatly increased. Equipped with the best of
outfits and a magnificent dog-team, his task was mainly to run the
various creeks and keep his eyes and ears open.
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